Voice In The Wilderness

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

[Nyerges is the author of several books,
such as Enter the Forest and Extreme Simplicity: Homesteading in the
City (co-author), and How to Survive Anywhere.He has led wilderness expeditions since
1974.He can be reached at Box 41834,
Eagle Rock, CA 90041 or via ChristopherNyerges.com]

There’s a lot of green right now in our town.Saint Patrick green:
shamrocks, leprechans, beer. But who was Saint Patrick?Was he a real person?Children are told"Saint Patrick wore a green suit, talked
to leprechans (he was probably drunk at the time), and while trying to convert
the pagans with a shamrock, he marched all the snakes out of
Ireland."Will the real Saint
Patrick please stand up?

His real name was Maewyn Succat,
born around 385 A.D., somewhere in Scotland, or possibly somewhere else, as
there is conflicting historical data on his exact date and place of birth.His baptismal name was Patricius.

Around age 16, he was sold into
slavery in Ireland and worked for the next 6 years as a shepherd.Keep in mind that human slavery, as well as
human sacrifice, was considered normal for those times.

After his six years in slavery, he believed that an
angel came to him in a dream, prompting him to escape and seek out his
homeland.He actually walked about 200
miles to the coast, where his dream indicated a ship would also be waiting for
him.He successfully escaped, and spent
the next twenty years of his life as a monk in Marmoutier Abbey. There he again
received a celestial visitation, this time calling him to return to the land
where he’d been enslaved, though now with a mission as a priest and converter.

Patrick was called to Rome in 432,
where Pope Celestine bequeathed the honour of Bishop upon him before he left on
his mission.

Patrick returned to Ireland not
alone, but with 24 supporters andfollowers.They arrived in
Ireland in the winter of 432.In the
Spring, Patrick decided to confront the high King of Tara, the most powerful
King in Ireland. Patrick knew that if he had the King's support, he would be
free to take his Christian message to the people of Ireland.

Patrick and his followers were
invited to Tara by the King of Laoghaire. It was there that he was said to have
plucked a shamrock from the ground as he tried to explain to the Druids and the
King that the shamrock had three leaves just like the idea of God’sthree aspects - The Father, The Son and the
Holy Ghost. This was called the Trinity.

Of course, triads and trinities were a common
concept among the Druids.In fact, one
could argue that the trinity (a term not found in the Bible) was a concept
given to Christianity by the Druids, rather than the other way around.Nevertheless,King Laoghaire was very impressed and chose to accept Christianity. He
also gave Patrick the freedom to spread Christianity throughout Ireland.

When Patrick returned to Ireland, he
treated the "pagans" with the respect implicit in his dream. Part of
this respect was attempting to communicate with the Druids on their terms,
which is why he used the shamrock as a teaching tool.He also blended the Christian cross with the
circle to create what is now known as the Celtic cross.He used bonfires to celebrate Easter, a Holy
Day that Christianity supplanted with the already-existing spring equinox
commemoration. In fact, he incorporated many of the existing symbols and
beliefs into his Christian teachings.

He spent his last 30 years in
Ireland, baptizing the non-Christian Irish, ordaining priests, and founding
churches and monasteries. His persuasive powers must have been astounding,
since Ireland fully converted to Christianity within 200 years and was the only
country in Europe to Christianize peacefully. Patrick's Christian conversion
ended slavery, human sacrifice, and most intertribal warfare in Ireland.

Patrick was also unique in that he
equally valued the role of women in an age when the church ignored them. He
always sided with the downtrodden and the excluded, whether they were slaves or
the “pagan” Irish.

According to Thomas Cahill, author
of How the Irish Saved Civilization, Patrick's influence extended far
beyond his adopted land. Cahill's book, which could just as well be titled How
St. Patrick Saved Civilization, contends that Patrick's conversion of
Ireland allowed Western learning to survive the Dark Ages. Ireland pacified and
churchified as the rest of Europe crumbled. Patrick's monasteries copied and
preserved classical texts. Later, Irish monks returned this knowledge to Europe
by establishing monasteries in England, Germany, France, Switzerland, and
Italy.

When the lights went out all over
Europe, a candle still burned in Ireland. That candle was lit by Patrick.

Veneration of Patrick gradually
assumed the status of a local cult.He
was not simply remembered in Saul and Downpatrick, he was worshipped. Indeed,
homage to Patrick as Ireland's saint was apparent in the eight century AD. At
this time Patrick's status as a national apostle was made independently of
Rome.He was claimed locally as a saint
before the practice of canonization was introduced by the Vatican. The high
regard in which the Irish have held St Patrick is evidenced by the salutation,
still common today, of "May God, Mary, and Patrick bless you".

Patrick was not Irish, had nothing
to do with leprechauns, almost certainly was not a drunkard, and didn't drive
all the snakes out of Ireland.In fact,
there were no native snakes in Ireland, though this story is believed to be an
analogy for driving out the so-called “pagans,” or, at least, the pagan
religions.

Patrick was one of the
"greats" of history who nearly single-handedly preserved the best of
Western culture when much of Europe was devolving into chaos and ruin.He deserves far better than remembering him
in the silly ways we do today, such as wearing green, pinching each other, and
getting drunk.Rather, he deserves an
accurate memory, and our emulation.Unfortunately, like all true Saviors of history, they are either killed
off, or relegated to the closet of ridicule.

Perhaps it's time for all of us to
re-think how we commemorate this special man, and his vast contribution to
world culture.

Monday, March 12, 2018

[Christopher Nyerges
writes a regular blog at www.ChristopherNyerges.com,
posts regular YouTube videos, and has led outdoor trips since 1974.He is the author of How to Survive
Anywhere,Extreme Simplicity,Foraging California and other
books. He can also be reached via School of Self-Reliance, Box 41834, Eagle Rock,
CA 90041.]

Our lawmakers, in their infinite wisdom, continue to tinker
with time.Manipulate the clocks and we
can trick the people into saving energy.And twice a year, we’re all subject to the changes and inconveniences
that occur as a result of the springing forward or falling back.We have to quickly adjust.It is part of our annual ritual, our relic
from the past, where we go back to standard time fromdaylight savings time.And now we are expected to extend this
“better” time a few more weeks.

But are there real and tangible benefits from doing
this?Mustwe continue to do so?

Daylight savings time is a manipulation of the basic solar
time within each time zone’s standard.It was said to be an idea of Benjamin Franklin, and was begun in the
United States during world wars one and two, and eventually became “official”
in all but two states. That right!At
least two states have said “No, thanks, we’ll stick to standard time.” And now
a few states are saying, “We’re sick of changing our clocks twice a year – we
want to keep daylight savings time all year.”

Daylight savings time is like a quaint tradition of a bygone
era that refuses to die.It is a
pointless habit with little recognizable merit.Michael Downing, author of “Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of
Daylight Savings Time,” demonstrates that the clock-change saves energy in
theory only, but not in practice.

David Letterman once asked the question to his audience
during his monologue: “Why do we practice daylight savings time?It’s so the farmers have more light,” he
laughed, answering his own question.“But how does that give the plants more
light?”That’s a Letterman joke for you,
but there is a truth hidden under his humor.Most people queried on the street don’t know why we have daylight
savings time, and fewer still experience any tangible benefits from it, except
perhaps the pleasantness of a later sunset time in the summer.

There are two often-cited reasons for the use of daylight
savings time.One is so that the children
can have more light going to school in the morning.But consider:thechildren have an hour more of
morning light in late October, when the clock is set back (“fall back”) to
standard time.That is, it is the very
use of daylight savings time which creates a darker morning as the days get
shorter and shorter.The “falling back”
an hour merely puts us back in sync with the local time zone.It is the use of daylight savings time that
created the problem of less light in the morning, and only in that sense can
you say that the “falling back” to regular time gives children that extra hour
of light.In other words, this is a
problem caused by daylight savings
time.This is not a bonafide benefit from daylight savings time.

My grandfather, and all my uncles on my mother’s side were
farmers.I have some knowledge of the
schedule of farmers.There is not one
that I know who does not arise at the crack of dawn, if not sooner.There is no other way to function as a
farmer.You then proceed to work as long
as needed, and as long as you are able, daylight savings time or standard
time.The manipulation of clocks in no
way affected how much work they got done, or not done.

I have talked to many people about daylight savings time.
Some like it, some do not. Some are annoyed by it, some find the long
afternoons of summer very enjoyable.Everyone has arrived late (or early) on the first Sunday (even Monday in
some cases) after the changing of the clocks.Daylight savings time thus gives millions of people a quasi-valid excuse
for lateness at least once a year.

Let’s end daylight
savings time entirely and adopt a year-round standard time.If I were asked to choose between daylight
savings time all year, or standard time all year, I would definitely choose
standard time. Why? Simple! Standard time is the closest approximately of
actual solar time. It more closely represents the real world than does the
manipulation of daylight savings time.

Those who wish to start school or go to work earlier can do
so!Such voluntary time alterations are
fine if those individuals and schools and businesses choose to do so. It may
even make the freeways less crowded at rush hours.But keep the standard time year-round.

Yes, this is a small thing in the context of a world at war,
with hate and suspicion in all political camps, and endless economic hardships
all over the world.In that big-picture
sense, this is just a little issue.But
this is still an issue that should be resolved, and dealt with.

Since daylight savings time is a state-by-state decision, we
can begin with California. Write to Governor Brown and ask him to implement
year-round standard time. You can write to Brown at Office of the Governor,
State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814, or phone at 916) 445-2841, or on-line at www.govmail.ca.gov.(if you live in another state, write to your
governor if you agree).

Take a poll of your friends and acquaintances before you
write to the Governor.See if you can
find anyone who derives tangible
benefits from daylight savings time.Secondly, there is always the initiative process where a Proposition can
be put on the ballot to be voted on by the people.This is a process that would take an
organized effort and cost at least a million dollars, and probably more.

Monday, March 05, 2018

CHARTING A COURSE

USING A COMPASS ALONE

[Nyerges has been
teaching outdoor survival skills and preparedness since 1974. He is the author
of “How to Survive Anywhere,” “Guide to Wild Foods,” and other books. He can be
reached at www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com,
or Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041.]

Let’s say it’s dark, or overcast, or you’re traveling in
thick woods.You don’t have a map, but
you have a compass. You’re not traveling in a straight line, but going here,
going there, finding out what’s out there.

There’s a way that you can take records of your travel, and
then chart a direct path back to your camp or car.It’s not that difficult, but it does require
a compass, and a pen and notebook.

Let’s say you’ve driven to a remote area in the forest and
you want to explore a large area for possible camp sites. You set out at 27
degrees, and you walk for 20 minutes.You make two columns in your notebook, and you record 27 in the degrees
column, and you record 20 in the time column.

Then, you decide to change directions, and you head out at
150 degrees. You write that down in the “degrees” column.You walk for 30 minutes before you pause, so
you record 30 in the minutes column.

You continue this way for the rest of the day, always
recording the degree in which you walked, and the amount of time you walked in
that direction.

Now, before we get too far along, let’s review (for you
beginners) how to determine what degree you are walking. Withyour orienteering compass, you point the
“direction of travel” arrow – which is the printed arrow on the housing of the
compass -- in the direction you are traveling.So far so good?Now, you turn the
round dial until the printed arrow is directly over the north end of the
needle.OK?That’s pretty basic compass use.Sometimes we refer to that step as putting
the dog in the house.The printed arrow
looks sorta like a dog house, and the magnetic needle (the “dog”) must be kept
aligned with the “doghouse.”As long as
you keep the dog in the house, and follow your “direction of travel” arrow,
you’re accurately traveling at whatever degree you’ve decided to walk in.

Obviously, for this system to work well, you need to walk in
fairly straight lines.In fairly rugged
terrain, this system might not be practical or possible.

So, let’s say you’re done exploring for the day, and your
notebook contains 6 entries for degree traveled, and 6 entries for amount of
time traveled.

With that information, you are now going to create a simple
map to determine a straight path back to your camp or wherever you started
from.

Let’s take a look at the notesyou took, in the example, and how to turn
those notes into a map.

Here is an example of what your notes might look like.

DEGREE

OF TRAVEL

TIME TRAVELLED

27

20

150

30

240

20

180

20

285

30

Remember, this is just an example, and in the example, we
have kept the units of time all divisible by 10 minutes.In real life, your units of time would likely
be much more diverse.

Using your notebook, or using sticks on the ground, you will
turn the units of time into linear lengths. So, for example, each ten minutes
of time traveled will be one inch.It
doesn’t really matter whether you make each ten minute segment represent one
inch or five inches or the length of your finger or the length of your Swiss
army knife – just be consistent with whatever unit of conversion you use.

So let’s say you are going to use sticks to create a map.
For your first 20 minute leg of your journey, you cut a straight stick 2 inches
long (10 minutes = one inches).Lay the
stick on the ground and align it at 27 degrees, your direction of travel.

Your next leg of your journey was 30 minutes, at 150
degrees.So you cut a stick that is

three inches long.From the leading end of the first stick, set down your three inch long
stick and align it at 150 degrees.So
far so good?You are creating a map of
your journey.

Next, you cut a two inch stick and align it at the end of
the last stick at 240 degrees.

Next, cut another two inch stick and align it at 180 degrees
from the end of the last stick.

Finally, you cut a stick three inches (30 minutes = 3
inches) and set it at the end of the last stick at 285 degrees.

OK? You have just created a visual map ofyour journey using stick, converting time
into linear lengths.When you have
completed your stick-map, you now place your compass at the end of the last
stick (which represents where you stopped, and decided you wanted to go home),
and point it to your starting point.That is your direct line back to your camp.Put the dog in the house on your compass, and
simply follow the direction of travel arrow back home.

And because you have chosen each 10 minutes of travel time
to represent one inch, you can just measure your straight line back to your
camp to get a good idea of how long it will take you to get home.

From my reckoning, it appears that you can now walk straight
at 30 degrees, for about 35 minutes and you’ll be back in your camp!Not bad, considering that your entire journey
so far took two hours.

Now, we did not discuss the variables that come with uneven
terrain.That is, if you had a lot of
uphill travel, you probably couldn’t cover as much terrain in 10 minutes as you
could if the ground were flat.So you
should record these terrain changes in your notebook.If you walked for 20 minutes, that would
normally represent a two inch stick.But
if the terrain was very sharply uphill, you wouldn’t have been able to cover
the same distance in the same time.You
would estimate, and probably use just a one inch stick for that leg of your
journey.You should also record any
changes in the speed of your hiking, though this works best if your speed is
more or less the same.

There’s a bit more to this, so please come to one of my
Orienteering workshops when you can.

See the Schedule at www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com.

Also, get a copy of each of these following books:

“The Green Beret’s
Compass Course,” by Don Paul, 2006.The technique described in this article was based onhis book, available from Amazon.

“Be Expert with Map
and Compass” by Björn Kjellström
is still one of the best overall guides to map and compass use. Available at
Amazon.

“How to Survive Anywhere” by Christopher Nyerges includes a short
section on navigation.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

During this last weekend, while at Rick's 70th birthday dinner, we got to talking about ghosts. Here is one experience of mine, excerpted from "Squatter in Los Angeles," available from Kindle, or the Store at www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com, at a cost of way less than what you customarily leave for a tip at a restaurant.

Dealing with the Ghost of Mrs. Killman

By “ghosts,” I am referring to the
presences of people who have recently died.Shortly after Edward and I moved in as squatters, we became aware the
“something or someone” was still around in this old house. We presumed it was
the recently-deceased owner, a Mrs. Killman who I later learned had been
bed-ridden, overweight, and heavily medicated.

“She probably didn’t even know that
she died,” my friend and associate at the non-profit, Ellen, told me.

One night while Edward and I were
in our rooms – I had my door open and could see right through the kitchen – the
kitchen door began to shake violently. I could both see and hear the door
shaking. We both rushed into the kitchen to check it out. It was clear that
there was no earthquake, and inexplicably, the kitchen became very cold. We
looked around outside. There was no one in the inner yard, and we would have
heard it if someone opened the creaky gate to enter, or exit.

This happened another time, and
Edward and I talked about it for a long time, assuming it was some sort of
psychic presence, but not really knowing one way or the other.Then there were at least two occasions when
we heard dogs barking in the kitchen.There were no dogs in the yard, no dogs next door, no dogs in the yard.
The barking was emanating from within the kitchen.The dog barking could not have been an“echo.”

It turned out that Mrs. Killman did
have two large dogs.We determined that
Mrs. Killman must have been a paranoid woman, for she had written multiple
wills and various trust deeds pertaining to her property.All this was unresolved when she died.And maybe she was forgetful.

I was unsettled by these events,
and at the earliest convenience, I shared these details with both the head of
the non-profit, REW, and Ellen who resided in the non-profit’s facility.

Shortly thereafter – within a week
or two – REW asked me if I could come over at 3 p.m. the following day to view
a show with him.I said
"yes."He added that this particular
program was extremely important, and that I should find a way to view it even
if I couldn't return to his place.He
said that the show would help me to deal with the “ghost” that had been
“visiting” at my home.

Of course, I returned the following
day at 3 p.m., and seated myself comfortably in his cold “learning
chamber.”The show was about to begin,
which was "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir."During the commercial just before the show, REW told me to watch very
carefully for the clues telling me what I should do about the "ghost"
in my house.

I had already told
REW and Ellen all about it – barking dogs though there were no dogs, and no
possibility of echoes, or underground passages, or a dog walking by.We knew that there absolutely was no dog in
the house, or near the house.However,
the old woman did have dogs that stayed in the house with her.Also, the house’s glass doors rattled
furiously on two occasions when there was no one around.

Since I had carefully inspected the
many papers left in the house when I moved in, I was likely the only person
aware that the old woman may have been the victim of foul play.Also, since the old woman took massive
amounts of medication, and Ellentold me
in her insightful way that Mrs. Killman was probably was very confused in her
initial after-death states, and possibly didn't even realize that her body had
died.These circumstances were the
classic ones which coincide with the presence of ghosts, or spirits of the
recently deceased.

"The Ghost and Mrs. Muir"
illustrated a couple who moved into an old house, and eventually began to have
"appearances."REW told me to
be particularly alert during those scenes depicting the way in which the woman
and man interacted with the ghost.

I watched the movie carefully,
generally wondering what I was doing there, since I didn’t see anything that
pertained to my situation.It was an
interesting movie, but seemed to be something other than what I needed.When the movie was over, REW restated the
practical lesson within the movie.

"They depicted the proper
two-step process for dealing with ghosts," he told me."What was the first way in which the
people tried to interact with the ghost?"Really?I shrugged.I tried to remember, but could remember
nothing useful.Ellen then spoke up,
saying, "She asked the ghost, 'Who are you?What is your name?’"

"That's important?" I
asked.REW responded in the affirmative,
as I began to recall that particular scene.The first step was the name-challenge, and involved asking the entity
its name.Then the woman in the movie
asked the ghost why it was there in the house.

"That's right," said REW.
"The woman queried the ghost as to its purpose.And when such entities are queried using this
formula, they are compelled to respond," he told me.I found this fascinating.

"So this is the way you should
interact with the ghost of the old woman," Ellentold me.“First make certain you know who, or what, is present, and then find out
what she wants of you."

I wondered aloud how I would do
that.Ellen then began to explain a
method which would make it easy for the ghost in my house to interact with
me.She pointed out that you don't
always get vocal words from ghosts, nor do you often get writing on paper.However, Ellen suggested that I lay papers on
the floor for all the letters of the alphabet, and of numbers 0 through 9, as
well as all of the key documents that I found which might be of some
value.Ellen suggested that I could talk
to the ghost when I felt“her” presence,
and then ask her to communicate by moving the papers on the floor to spell out
words, or numbers, or move key papers.

"You need to decide for
yourself if you can help her in any way," Ellen told me, "and what
you're willing to do.She's contacting
you because you're there in her house, and you are the most likely person to
provide help.But you'll have to use
some creativity to get answers if you really desire to help.She may not be able to just speak like you
and I speak."

I wasn’t really certain about all
this, and it sounded vaguely like some sort of séance session, and I wasn’t
sure what I was willing to do. But Ellen was right, I was in her house, and I would rather that the ghost of
Mrs. Killman move on to somewhere else and not haunt my kitchen.

Lastly, according to both Ellen and
REW, once I performed this task, or resolved the issue that was keeping the
ghost of Mrs. Killman close to the earth plane, I was to tell her that she has
passed away, and that she should now go on, that her work is somewhere else.

I listened quite intently to all of
this, having a curious mix of excitement, anticipation, and even fear.I recorded all the details into my notebook.

That evening, I prepared myself to
interact with the presence of the old woman's ghost.

Onto the floor of my room, I placed
the key papers which had to do with the deceased woman.I also placed squares of paper on the floor,
one for each letter of the alphabet, thinking that perhaps "she" would
rattle papers, and might even spell out some message by sequentially rattling
letters of the alphabet.

By 1 a.m., I had everything set up,
since the usual time of the "appearance" was about 2 a.m.I wanted to be ready.I sat there reviewing the papers, wondering
how I would react if anything actually visually appeared.

At around 1:40, the room became
very cold with an oppressive presence. The cold was very penetrating, and I
felt some fear.I knew that
"she" was there.I attempted to
vocalize the words "What is your name?" but was unable to do so.I literally could not speak.This was a unique sort of fear. I tried hard
to speak aloud, but could not!I
mentally stated the question, and I intently watched the papers on the
floor.I remained in a kneeling position
which I'd originally adopted so I wouldn't fall asleep.But I was now keenly alert, intently aware
that something else was there in the room with me, and painfully aware that I
could not utter a word.My intense fear
was not a rational thing, for I was aware that "she" could not hurt
me.Yet, I was actually sweating there
in that ice-box cold room.

None of the letters moved.Irecalled the Biblical quote about “there is no fear in love, for fear
has to do with punishment…” and so I worked to calm my fear-emotions, and made
the strong effort to emanatea Feeling
of Real Love.At first, I was simply
attempting to allow that Feeling of Love to be there, within me, and to “send”
it outward.Once I was able to do that,
I specifically attempted to send that Feeling of Love to the old woman, while
letting her know that I could be of some assistance.I mentally asked her to tell me what I could
do, as I tried to squeak out the vocal words.Then one of the old legal papers in the middle of the room rustled.There was no chance of a breeze moving the
paper, since all the surrounding papers right there on the floor didn't move at
all.A second paper moved.I took note of which two papers rustled.

I sat there stiffly for another 15
minutes in the cold room, with its cinder-block walls.The night outside was quiet, and dark, and
cold.After a while, it was clear that
the presence was gone and I knew it was over for that night.

I tried this on two more nights,
but there was no presence, or cold, and no reaction at all.

There were no more shaking doors or
barking dogs, and that was the end of the “appearances” of the ghost.

Some months later, I gave those two
specific documents to the lawyer for the heir of the oldwoman.The lawyer and heir thanked me profusely, for apparently those papers
contained clues of foul play and forgery, and contained the name of the
culprit.The lawyer did ask me -- with a
bit of suspicion in her voice -- how I came to find those two specific papers
out of all of the many boxes and piles of "stuff" that was in the
house.Had I actually gone through all
the papers that carefully?, I could almost hear the lawyer asking.I was tempted to tell the story of how I actually
did "find" those two papers, but decided it would be better to let
her think that I just randomly happened to notice those documents, and just
thought they might be important so I kept them.

The exact details of the resolution
of Mrs. Killman’s mountain estate was never revealed to me, but I did learn
that the identified culprit who attempted to illegally obtain Mrs. Killman’s
land never did gain them.This was
partly the result of those two documents I gave to the lawyer, and partly due
to other factors.It seemed that the
desire to disallow an unloyal "friend" from taking hold of her lands
was strong enough to keep the old woman on and near the physical plane until it
was resolved.

Though I never again had a ghost
encounter of this level, it left me with the lifelong impression of the reality
of the spirit world.I respect the
deference that the old generation and indigenous people have towards cemeteries
and burial grounds.And when someone
tells me that they believe that a place is “haunted,” I accept that it’s
certainly possible that the spirit of a deceased person is residing there.I know that some people do not believe in
ghosts, and say they are simply figments of an excited imagination.I always felt that there was probably
something to the phenomenon of ghosts, and might have remained ambivalent had I
not had my own experience.

Wednesday, February 07, 2018

This is an excerpt from "Searching for the Meaning of Life in the City of Angels" by Woodenturtle, from Kindle, or as an e-book from the Store at www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com

LET ME CAST A HEALING BALM

Interacting with the moon’s energy
during an eclipse

In the mid-1980s, Shining Bear told
us that there would be a full eclipse of the moon one night. It was in the
newspapers, of course, but none of us had read it or taken any special notice
of it.

We were talking with him around 2
p.m., when he explained that there is way to utilize the special lunar energy
during this unique eclipse time.

"This is not a way to get
something, or to feel good," said Shining Bear. "Rather, this is a
way that you can choose to channel that very refined lunar light – the healing
power of the light of the moon – to the benefit of your fellows on this prison
planet." "Prison planet" was how he typically referred to Earth.

He instructed us to find a place
where we can sit cross-legged comfortably, and face the moon directly. It would
be around 8:30 in the evening.

"This is best done with pure
silver, since silver transmits the lunar energy best. I don’t know what the
effect would be if you used sterling silver, but ideally use three pure rounds
of silver." A "round" is simply the coin-dealers term for a
round piece of silver that is not a government coin. They are made by private
mints so that someone could buy pure silver with no numismatic consideration.
And there are also pure silver coins issued by governments. Either way, it
needed to be pure silver, 99.9%.He
spent perhaps an hour telling us how to interact with the special lunar light.

I knew I had some silver coins at
home, and some at my parents house.But
my living conditions were somewhat hectic, and I had some things in storage,
and wasn’t precisely sure where everything was located.I found some sterling silver coins – which
were 90% silver.I quickly drove up to
my parents house, and searched around for some coins I had stored there in the
basement.Finally, after having to
endure the suspicions of my father, Dancing Moon and I were seated in the upper
terrace of the Island with the silver that I had managed to locate.

We set down a blanket on the dirt,
and then sat cross-legged.We positioned
ourselves so we could face the full moon as it went into eclipse. Shining Bear
had indicated that we were to create a triangle with three pieces of silver and
our body.This meant that silvershould be in each hand, and another piece of
silver held in the thyroid area.Holding
the silver in the hands was easy – each palm was simply held upwards and resting
on the knees.Holding the silver next to
the thyroid was challenging.We found
that we could wrap a silver coin in a cotton kerchief, and then tie it behind
the neck so that the silver was secured and stayed close to the neck.That was sufficient, since we wouldn’t be
moving around, and we’d only be there for 20 minutes or

We sat there on the blanket,
getting things arranged.

“Look,” I said after a while.The shadow of the earth was starting to cover
an edge of the moon.There was a feeling
of mystery in the air, an electrical excitement, a buzz.Even the wild animals sensed it.

It was a bright full moon night and
everything was visible. There were no clouds.In a few minutes, the night would darken and many more stars would be
visible.

It was a little chilly so it took a
bit of maneuvering to hold the silver in each hand, keep one next to the neck,
and to sit with a light blanket over our shoulders.

Dancing Moon was in position, and
was quiet. She seemed deep in thought as she watched the moon, and appeared
relaxed.

We didn’t say much. I sensed that
my runaround to find the silver was viewed with disdain by Dancing Moon,
another sign of my being unorganized, chaotic, confused.But there was nothing that I could say or do
– at least not now.Now was the time to
go into the moment.

So we sat, focused on the theme of
healing that Shining Bear told us about.Nothing for ourselves, but for the earth, for all earth’s
inhabitants.Of course, there is always
an enlightened self-interest in such things – we would benefit personally in
some way if the spiritual and mental health, and the level of harmony, was
collectively raised.

The moon was nearly in full eclipse
now.

“Let me cast a healing balm,” began
Dancing Moon, slowly, thoughtfully, methodically. At first I tried to say it
along with her, but our timing was off so I just continued on my own, focusing
on the moon, canting in my own timing.I
mentally worked to feel the lines of energy to the three pieces of silver on my
body, and the triangle of light between the three pieces of silver, from hand
to hand, and from each hand to the throat.I visualized the triangle of light and the silver lines extending
outward to the moon.

I continued my canting, focusing on
sending a healing balm over the earth.My eyes closed gently, and I could “almost” see the lines of light
extending to the moon.I could feel a
hush fall over the land, a calm that was both physical and psychic.The landscape had become eerily darker, and
the animal sounds were different.

Ten minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes
elapsed.I continued to cant and
realized my voice was now in sync with Dancing Moon.We continued our slow methodical canting,
looking at the moon, watching the shadow move across the surface.

The moon was nearly full again when
we stopped and put away our silver, and packed our things.

It was been an exhausting
evening.We had no tangible way of
knowing if this had any positive benefit or not. There seemed to be “something”
detectable that was calmer, more relaxed, peaceful.Everything was the same, but somehow we had
interacted with a force of nature, and somehow, in some not fully tangible way,
the world was now different.

We were tired but very relaxedand the edginess and irritation from earlier
was now gone.I went home and slept
soundly.

We didn’t speak of it until the
following Sunday when everyone shared their experiences at the regular Sunday
gathering.

Monday, January 29, 2018

[Nyerges is the author of “Extreme Simplicity,” “How to Survive
Anywhere,” and other books. He teaches survival and self-reliance at Pasadena
City college and throughout the community. He can be reached at www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com, or Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041]

As we are about to begin the Chinese
Year of the earth Dog on February 16, it is a good time to take note of all the
good things about dogs. It seems that everyone has something to say about the
character of dogs.They exhibit
unconditional love, they are loyal, and they really seem to want to be a part
of your life, to the extent that they are able.

Dogs are deeply loyal to their families
and friends. They are regarded as honest and straightforward, and they can be
deeply responsible for the welfare of those around them (remember old episodes
of Lassie saving someone?).

Many of our most profound observations
about human nature come from our observation of dogs.For example, Sigmund Freud noted that “dogs
love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people who are
incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate.”

James Thurber observed, “If I have any
beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to
heaven, and very, very few persons.”

One of my favorite episodes of the
Twilight Zone was “The Hunt,” where Hyder Simpson and his dog went for a hunt
one day.Hyder’s dog jumped into a pool,
and didn’t come out and Hyder looked for him, eventually finding him.They both had died, but Hyder didn’t know it,
and he strolled down a road where a man informed him he’d died and that he was
now at heaven.Hyder was about to enter
but the gatekeeper said dogs were not allowed. So Hyder just kept strolling,
saying he’d not go anywhere if his dog couldn’t go.He eventually came to another gate and the
gatekeeper again invited him in.“What
about my dog?” asked Hyder hesitantly.“Oh, he’s welcome” said the gatekeeper.It turned out that this was the real heaven, where both Hyder and his
dog were welcome.The other gatekeeper
was at the entrance to hell!It’s an
excellent episode and makes you think about what is important to you in life –
and after life.

Ann Landers once wrote, “Don't accept
your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.”And I really like the bumper sticker I once
saw that read, “I wish I was half the person that my dog believes I am.”A dog is the only thing on earth that loves
you more than he loves himself, said Josh Billings.And Andy Rooney noted that the average dog is
a nicer person than the average person. How true that often seems!

We make fun of some habits of dogs,
like going in circles many times before they will lie down, or sniffing
everything, because perhaps we do not understand dogs.Dave Barry once comically noted that “dogs
need to sniff the ground; it's how they keep abreast of current events. The
ground is a giant dog newspaper, containing all kinds of late-breaking dog news
items, which, if they are especially urgent, are often continued in the next
yard.”Funny, but probably true. I
remember walking my pit bull Cassius Clay in my Altadena neighborhood, and
there were certain lines of bushes which he had to slowly sniff before we could
move on. It took so long to get by that area that I would sometimes avoid it
entirely or I would never get home.What
did Cassius smell? His brain was likely translating the different odors left by
other dogs, just as Barry suggests, and those odors conveyed a complex picture
of each dog that had passed by and probably a few things about its history.

As for the intelligence of dogs, I
believe it is quite high. Much has been made of the supposed higher intelligence
of pigs vs. dogs.I don’t doubt that
some scientist conducted some tests of brain activity and found that pigs were
higher functioning in some areas.Pigs
certainly have incredible memories. When I had both a pig and a dog, I observed
that my pig, Otis, had an incredible memory, but the memory was largely limited
to food: where he once found it, whether he liked it, and whether he might find
more there again.Whereas the pig seemed
to be less interested in humans and wanted to live for food and pleasure, the
dog’s mentality was very much geared to the human “master,” and very much
included the concepts that we humans call love and loyalty.

I have so many dog stories – stories that
are uplifting, sad, hilarious, stories
of how our dog pal made our life more meaningful, and taught us to love even
more. I realize that if you’re not a “dog person,” you’re not going to get
this.I remember once on the Dennis
Prager radio show – not a “dog person”, by the way -- he talked about people who love dogs dearly.In his attempt to figure this out, Prager
concluded that people who love dogs more
than people have some sort of deficiency, and they are trying to make up for it
by loving dogs.Respectfully, I think
you got that one wrong Dennis.Granted,
no two people are alike, but I see that people who can love dogs too are people who are big lovers, not
small lovers. They are people whose hearts are big, and they see the beautiful
life force and vitalistic energy within these non-human beings.

I have spent some time attempting to
master human-to-dog communication.It is
definitely not about words.Yes, dogs
will remember certain sounds and what they are intended to convey, regardless
what human language you are speaking.But they primarily pick up on your tone and intent.They know anger, fear, uncertainty, love,
respect, and many more of the so-called human emotions.I also believe that Beatrice Lydecker got it
right in her book, “What the Animals Tell Me,” where she shared her “secrets”
to animal communication.Essentially,
Lydecker explains that you need to think in pictures, and to then attempt to
convey those pictures to the animal, mentally.I experimented with the Lydecker approach many times with Cassius and
found that, towards the end of his life, we had some very deep and profound
exchanges of ideas.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

[Nyerges is the author of various books such as “Extreme
Simplicity: Homesteading in the City,” “Self-Sufficient Home,” “Squatter in Los
Angeles,” and other books. He has led outdoor field trips since 1974. His
schedule is available at www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com
or at Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041]

I don’t like seeing people waste money, their own or other
people’s.For most of us, money
represents the transfer of our work into a tangible abstract which we use to
get the things and services we need in life. Money equals our time, our work,
our life. If you think that I am placing too much value on money it’s
undoubtedly because I place money right up there with oxygen as something that
is essential. (yes, stolen quote)

I am not optimistic about the state of our economic health,
with the government doing what no one of us can do – survive decade after
decade with “deficit spending,” which means money we don’t have, which means,
literally, bankruptcy!

The individual should do everything possible to live within
their economic means both as a lifestyle, a mentality, and as a way to avoid
personal disaster.

Though this is part of a much longer series about personal
economics, let’s start with credit cards.

The convenience of a credit card is obvious.I can go to Trader Joes and not have to worry
about carrying sufficient cash, and I can buy what I need, slide my card, and
go home with groceries.The problem with
this is that too many users – especially in the beginning – get addicted to the
card in the same way that one gets addicted to heroin.It is so easy, and it feels so good, but it
is not free.

Let me begin with my conclusion, something that too many
have learned too late. Ifyou cannot pay
off your credit card at the end of each month, you cannot afford what you have
purchased, and you should not buy whatever it is you think you need or want.
There are a few exceptions, however, as my friend Robert Blair always told me:
A house, obviously.An education,
because the education presumably will enable you, long-term, to earn much more
than you would have earned without it. And, unfortunately, a vehicle. More on
these three later.

Remember, if you cannot pay off the balance of your card
every month, you cannot afford the items in question, and should not buy them
in the first place.

But everyone forgets that last sentence, at one time or
another, to their peril.

The balance – and interest – build.You learn to pay the minimum required by the
credit card company, as the principle gets bigger.Eventually, you learn to juggle your credit
card debt from card to card to try and find the lowest interest rate to handle
your balance.

Eventually, all your money goes to paying off the minimum
amount due, and it seems that you will never get out of debt.Was it worth it?You’re now a slave of the banks.

I once overhead a conversation where the individual was
describing how much money they had left. “What does that mean?” I
inquired.They were describing how much
more credit they had left on their credit card, as if that was their own money
in a wallet somewhere. In fact, the person had NO money “left”—the amount being
discussed was simply the amount of more money that the credit card company
would allow the person to go even deeper into debt without worrying too
much.

Though lots of people use credit cards without any serious
problems, for many others, the use of easy credit is part of the fast road to
financial failure.If you’re one of
those people, one of your best courses of action is to first take a complete
assessment of all your actual needs.Stop buying anything you absolutely cannot live without. In fact, if you
are having difficulty paying off your credit cards each month, you might be
well advised to cut up those cards and operate on a cash basis until you know
you are back on solid footing.

There are also legitimate agencies that help you manage your
debt so you can get out of debt. This means the agency will re-negotiate your
debt so that you can pay one fee each month, often at a lower interest
rate.Obviously, however, you must
change your behavior or you will never get out of debt, and you will be “poor”
forever.

When I read statistics about how up to 90% of the American
public are dissatisfied and unfulfilled in their life, I have to look at the
possible reasons. One of the biggest reasons is a dissatisfaction with one’s
chosen employment, because – let’s face it – everyone needs an income and
sometimes we take whatever we can get.If we do not continually seek employment that is more personally
fulfilling, we begin to wonder what our life is all about. I have seen it all
too often.Then, too many of us try to
find fulfillment or happiness with the junk that we buy, and then we lose
ourselves into our technological world of emails and smart phones and facebook
and twitters and television.And that
choice to seek meaning with more stuff, and more technology, proves to be a futile
path, where we don’t find happiness and we get even poorer.

Yes, I know this is just the tip of an iceberg.In summary, you really must work hard to stay
out of debt by always delineating need from want.If your life doesn’t depend on it, don’t buy it.
And your fulfillment in life will come from your face-to-face interactions and
workings with other people.Go on a diet
from your technological toys for a while. You might find a new life that was
there all along, and you might find that your wallet is a bit healthier too.